30 Days
by Xardogn
Summary: Rageshipping. Based on 30 Day prompt challenge. Chazz survives his duel with Haou, but to what purpose, no one knows. However, his task of reviving his rival from the darkness is doomed to failure. AU. Warning: Character death.
1. Beginning

He had lost the duel.

Jaden had played the card that destroyed his ring of defense and Chazz had no other ways of preventing the damage. It was over.

He lowered his duel disk, not wanting to believe that he had failed when it really counted-just once he had wanted to win. Just once, against the stupid failure of a rival he had, but fate seemed to constantly find a way to spit in his face.

"You lose, mortal." Jaden spoke. He looked up. It wasn't Jaden actually-he had seen the terrible transformation that had happened when all of his friends were killed off in front of him. His eyes had turned yellow, the voice a lot deeper.

They looked the same and yet so different.

Were they the same?

"You just….got lucky punk." Still stubborn, wasn't he? "Well Jaden? What are you waiting for? Finish me off like everyone else!"

Then he would dissolve into pretty lights and everything would be lost.

"No." Jaden strode towards Chazz. When he reached him, he ripped the duel disk off his arm with one swift movement. All of the monsters formed by Solid Vision (or was it their minds?) faded. "You have lost."

Chazz stared at him. What…was he planning? Why did Jaden not kill him? It was easy enough last time, and he still had the same golden look. There was something….different though.

"What the hell is going on, JADEN?"

His rival took another step closer to him, suddenly taking a handful of hair and yanking him down. Chazz gasped, forced to kneel in front of him.

"My name is Haou. And I am your king. Do you not remember your deal?" The golden eyes said.

_Fine. If I lose, I pledge my soul to you._

He didn't think he would lose. Or be alive.

"I do but you….cheated…." The grip tightened, bringing tears to his eyes.

"I do not cheat. I merely did not want my greatest asset to die." The armored hands dragged him up again.

"Your life begins now."

**You have failed him, Chazz. **


	2. Accusation

"Did you or did you NOT try to escape?"

He had tried to. Chazz had tried at least seven times. He kept count. After the sixth, Haou decided to keep him in his own room, but he was nothing if not stubborn.

It had gotten to the point where the king had to check him regularly for objects he had stolen and hid among his clothes.

Like today.

He no longer had his jacket, though. That was the first thing to go.

"Do you want me to lie or tell the truth?" He snarled. Chazz had long since stopped being afraid of those eyes.

The hand tightened. "Always the truth."

"I know the punishment will be the sa-" The other hand gripped his jaw so he couldn't move it anymore.

"You do not seem to understand your position. You pledged your soul to me in exchange for the duel. And yet you attempt to renege on your promise!"  
He couldn't answer. The hand was still there.

"You will get that you are here, and you are MINE, and you are NEVER TO LEAVE!" The hand twisted so he was thrown onto the ground. Chazz stayed there this time. It was too painful to leave.

"I did not escape," He muttered, eyes closed. "You caught me, didn't you?"

A foot slammed down near his face. Chazz startled up again. "Do not mock me either."

The armored hands dragged him into a side room off of the king's. "You will stay here."

The door slammed shut and was locked.

Chazz tugged at the chain. It had no visible markings he could see to unlock it. A safeproof. He leaned against the wall, letting out what seemed to be a long thin string of breath. If he looked hard enough, he could almost see it vanishing through the window.

"God I'm so fucking sorry guys."


	3. Restless

He couldn't sit still.

There was one window in his room, since they were higher up on one of the towers but it was a hard time seeing through it since he was so short.  
Chazz didn't know why he was obsessed with it, but for once it was nice to feel actual air on his face.

The rest of the time was spent pacing back and forth, having the chain clatter along the floor. That noise he had gotten used to.

Haou had given him a bed and a small bookcase for him but….he still couldn't sit still. Back and forth. He walked back and forth so many times that he swore that he would drill a hole in the floor from use. He wasn't interested in books, or sleeping or anything. He wanted to get out.

Well not even get out, just…..He propped the chair up by the window again and stared out. The view was amazing. Chazz was right on the edge and all he could see was the dark purple land stretching out forever. Even without sunlight in the dark world it was better then stone walls….

Screw that, he wanted the sun back. If only for the fact that he could have a good excuse to shut himself inside again. Chazz held his hand out but there was a slight breeze, nothing more. Withdrawing back to the room, he sat on the edge of the bed. Couldn't he at least feel the burning on his skin? Or something? He normally hated the outside but he hated everything feeling dead worse.

—

He couldn't sit still.

He kept hearing the small chain clanking around-part of the reason he put it on him in the first place and it was...irritating to say the least.

Haou slipped silently over to the door, opening it after he heard a large pause in the clanking.

His prisoner was fast asleep, though not on the bed. He'd been staring out the window again and must've fallen asleep propped up on the chair.

Idiot. Was he dreaming of escape? He thought this one was smarter to realize that this was impossible for him.

Impossible for one as weak and foolish as him. One who wore his emotions too clo-

No. The more he thought about this one, he seemed to have wierd feelings. Things that made him sick to his stomach and reminded him of the other one buried deep in his mind.

Silently, Haou pulled a knife from his belt and laid it on the black-haired boy's collarbone. He shifted slightly, but didn't wake up.

It would be so easy to kill him, as he had tried to every night before but each attempt had become more feeble. Haou could not bring himself to murder him. It would be merciful-rather then tortured like all his other subjects, just one cut and it would be over with…..

He put the knife away and gently picked him up, moving him to the bed. Grumbling to himself, Haou left, but didn't close the door all the way. There was no point, he was still chained.

That was the last time he'd tried to kill him.


	4. Snowflake

Chazz had discovered it on the bookcase. It had seemed long forgetten, used only to hold the scattering of books up on the shelf but, stuck in a cell where he could only walk a foot outside the door, he got rather distracted.

He shook the small snowglobe. This wasn't one of those cheap ones that was sold at every little tourist trap around, it was well made. Actual silver, pewter and glass, and as much as he studied it, Chazz could not figure out how the images inside the small globe got to have such great detail.

He shook it again, watching the tiny flakes explode outward and then slowly settle again. Every time he shook it, the scene inside had changed. Normally, he would've questioned it, but in the Dark World, everything seemed to be magic.

He set it down on his lap. "What are YOU looking at?"

Haou was at the door. He had been for sometime, probably thinking he was being discreet, but with armor like that it was hard not to notice him.

"Why are you so fascinated with a peice of trash?" his voice cut through any somber feelings he had.

"And why the hell do you care?" Chazz snapped back.

"It's my business to know." The armored hand reached out and snatched the snow globe away from him. Chazz made a wild grab but missed.

"Give it back! You asshole, what the hell do you think you are?!"

"Your king, mortal."

The door slammed shut.

—

Haou stared at the snowglobe as well. What did this little…bird see in this toy? It was just a cheap decoration. He had seen Chazz stare at it for almost hours on end and his face looked different. More normal, as what his….other self remembered.

Somehow, he liked him better when he was angry. When his face looked like the one staring into the globe. His little rival looked alive. It was so much better that way.

So how could HE, Haou, cause him to look like that? The bitter hatred was getting tiring.

It seemed to be time for a trip. For both of them.


	5. Haze

Apparently they had horses in the Dark World. And every other possible riding creature, but to Chazz, horses seemed to be the safest bet.

Where they were going, he didn't know, but he had to cling to Jaden's-Haou's stupid armor just so he wouldn't fall off. He'd never taken horseback riding lessons because he never thought he would've been kidnapped by his rival-turned-evil and forced to ride one.

Apparently this realm could change at will. He thought it was only rocks and canyons and more rocks but….Haou knew where to find all these wierd places. Places that he could use his duel energy to shape it how he wanted to, place where portals opened up into places that looked like deserts and fantasy lands.

He had absolutely no idea what the hell was with Haou, though he was glad to finally get out of the stupid cell, even if Haou gripped the chain that was attached to his neck.

A distant haze erupted on the horizon. They were two days from the castle.

"That doesn't look good…." He muttered. Haou said nothing and kept riding towards it. The haze grew closer and closer until he finally saw what it was. It was not a haze. It was….snow.

Snow? What was snow doing here? Was this Haou's doing?

Moments later the horse was at a stop. "This is our last stop. Enjoy the freedom while you can."

Chazz tugged at the chain and thankfully Haou let go. Besides where exactly could he run?

He ran forward, too curious about this phenomenon and why it was caused. Each peice of snow was frozen in midair. There probably was a time spell or trap card lying around that froze it all in place….He wondered how long the storm had been frozen in place like this. Had they done it on purpose? Or was it really a natural formation?

He reached out a hand and touched a crystal. It immediately melted and a drop of water rolled down his hand. How long since he had seen rain? Glancing back at the king, he saw him staring at him. What…..

There was a little wave of his hand, gesturing to go on, so he did. He climbed up all over the rocks-getting tired easily-examining every inch of the storm. He had never been able to study one frozen in space before, it was truly fascinating.

What Haou did not know was that in between some of the rocks he found random cards stuck there. He quickly picked them up and hid them the best he could on his person, for he was sure Haou would not like the idea of his prisoner-especially a spirit duelist-arming himself.

And what Chazz did not know was that Haou had achieved as well what he had wanted to. He had seen that look on Chazz's face and he had caused it. And he had gained trust.


	6. Flame

Chazz was planning his next escape.

He had looked through those cards he'd found in the rocks, but they weren't enough to be a threat. He was very, very good at achieving victory with cards he'd randomly put together-twice before he'd done it-but he was being even more careful. In the normal world, he would just lose. In this world, he would die.

Haou had left him alone in the throne room, urgently called off to some war uprising or whatever he had to deal with. It sounded bad-for him-and now he was left alone. Certainly, there were supposed to be guards, but they had deemed him no trouble at all, so they had left to god knows where.

So now he was alone, this time his ankle chained to one of the feet of the chair. And that chair was certainly not moving anywhere.

Chazz looked around again for anyone who would be watching him, and then pulled out a small pin. He'd manage to hide it easily, even without his jacket. Living with his brothers, he had plenty of practice with this sort of thing.

But that wasn't enough. Maybe he needed a distraction. His eyes drifted up to the candles, then to the tapestries hanging everywhere. That would…work.

He walked slowly over to the candles, reaching out and tipping them over onto the cloth. They lit up like a flare, which suprised him. He wasn't expecting that much of a reaction…shit, he had to work fast. He went back to the chain and started to work furiously at unhooking it but he fumbled a dropped the pin.

"Shit!" Where did that go? He patted the ground. No, no this couldn't happen! The flames behind him were growing and spreading and it was getting harder to see with all the smoke.

He held his sleeve up to his mouth and stayed low. That way there would be less chance of inhalation but…..the pin was gone and there was no way he was going to find it it this head and haze.

"No…no, no…." He kept muttering over and started pulling at the chain desperately. It was hot and started burning his hands but he did not let go.

The flames crackling grew louder and he lost all sense of time. Chazz just knew the air was getting thicker with smoke and he couldn't see or breathe. He felt some of his skin succumbing to the heat but couldn't feel the pain. Where was the air? Where was everything?

Where

Where was he

Voices.

Shouting.

Was that Jaden? His eyes looked so wierd.

A brief pain on his face.

No, it WAS Jaden! His eyes were normal. They were brown, not gold. He smiled. Victory.

And then nothing.


	7. Formal

He wasn't sure how he got there, but Chazz had reached a ballroom, which seemed to be a cross between Haou's throne room and the Obelisk Blue dorm. The decorations were certainly fancy enough, ranging from the tapestries he thought he'd burned down and shiny crystal EVERYWHERE.

"Chazz?" He turned around, not sure what to expect from the female voice but gasped when he saw Alexis standing there, a full formal dress. He looked down at himself, and sure enough, he had on a matching black suit.

"Lexi? What's going on-"

"Shhh." She cut him off with a finger and stepped forward gracefully, the dress just dusting the floor. "It's time to dance."

She took him rather forcibly by the hand and started leading him around the floor in almost delicate swirling motion. He was so swept up in this…dream and the circles they were tracing on the floor that he didn't even question why she was here and why any of them were there. Perhaps he'd been finally rescued or that was all a terrible dream.

"You, uh, look really pretty in the dress, Lex…." He muttered to her, staring down at his shoes to hide his face. Her finger tipped up his face. "I know I do, but I'm happy you think so anyway."

She smiled brilliantly and suddenly she started changing. She wasn't Alexis anymore, she was…..Jaden? What was the slacker doing here? Chazz blinked again and the lights in the hall grew blinding. He hissed, holding up a hand, but this time moving hurt. Everything hurt.

It only took a bit of time for him to realize the dance was a dream and he regretted waking up instantly. Haou's golden eyes had returned and were staring at him from the sky. No..the cieling. He was…leaning over him?

"Chazz?" The voice cut through his stupor.

"Did you just…actually call me by name?" His mental faculties weren't fully back, so he was apparently stuck on sarcasm mode right now.

More waiting for an answer. It seemed to take ages before Haou finally spoke again.

"How did this happen?"

Chazz kept his eyes closed because the lights were hurting his head, but he could detect the tone of displeasure in his voice.

"WHO SET FIRE TO THE ROOM?"

Apparently he wasn't fast enough. He cracked his eyes open. "I did….."

Once he spoke this phrase, a rough hand gripped his neck, but Chazz was too weak to fight against it. "Why would you do something like this?"

He heard the tightly controlled venom in those words along with something he could almost mistake for concern. At least, if this was not Haou speaking.

"Tried to use it as a distraction…."  
"YOU WERE TRYING TO ESCAPE?!" A hand raised and Chazz flinched, expecting a blow to his face, but it froze in midair. Haou's face twisted in a horrible way, like he was suffering from a sudden bout of terrible pain.

He suddenly turned on his heels and left the room, slamming the door shut. Too tired to do anything else, Chazz closed his eyes again and tried to return to that dream.


	8. Companion

Due to his little….incident, Chazz spent the next who knew how many days in his little room-cell.

The first few were the hardest, since he could barely move without the stinging pain covering him all over, and the only time he was visited was when a guard dropped off his meager food supply.

He could barely lift his arm to reach the plate, so most of it went untouched for a week or so. It was hard to tell the time when there was one tiny window set into a wall.

Finally, he was able to move around. When he could, he pondered why Haou hadn't shown his face since he'd woken up from that dream. He seemed angry, or at the very least conflicted, so why wasn't he here now?

Chazz was sure he wanted to punish his prisoner for the giant insubordination and redecorating the throne room no doubt needed.

The chain still clinked around his ankle. Apparently, they really were taking no chances at all. What could a burn victim like him really do?

Were there going to be scars?

No. He shook his head and gingerly got up again, walking to the bookcase. He removed a section of them, flipping through the delicate pages to retrieve the cards he'd hid in them.

Throwing them on the bed, he fell with them. These stupid peices of paper were his only companion now, and how the hell were they even going to help him? True, now that he was in the Dark World, the spirits could actually manifest themselves, but these were all low level ca-

SHIT, SHIT HE WAS AT THE DOOR he quickly scooped up the cards and dumped them under the bed. Hopefully that was out of the way enough and the spirits didn't wake up so he wouldn't have to deal with explaining where they came from and he would probably die a horrible death and-

"You're awake." Haou's voice stopped his racing thoughts. Chazz turned around slowly so he could meet him eye to eye.

"I've BEEN awake for the past week."

"Do not use that tone with me. You are lucky you are still living. By the fire and by my hand, both could have done you in." A few quick strides and Haou was up close to him, close enough he had to lean back against one of the bedposts to get away. He didn't say anything.

One of Haou's hands lifted up and brushed his face. He flinched at the touch, not expect such a gesture.

"Those burns will leave scars once those are removed." No question, no emotion, no nothing. The statement was completely flat.

"What's your point here?"

"Why do you want to escape so badly?"

"Why do you WANT me here so badly?" Chazz could see that question finally reached him. Haou looked shocked, as if he dared question his motivation for anything he did. Was it possible Haou did not know himself?

It was too late. The door had already slammed shut again.


	9. Move

"Your move." The dry voice carried over to Haou's side of the board. He was never one that was fond of chess, but it was a game everyone could understand, and that masters could control. He was decent at it, he supposed, for someone who had never put that much time into these sorts of childish things.

Neither did he hesitate, as he moved one of his pawns forward. His opponent was one of his dark soldiers, clearly, though it was odd that HE was the one who had requested this game. Haou was not particularly fond of him, as he had hinted at insubordination a few times before, but he had no proof.

Normally Haou would just easily take him out, but this one had many-unspoken-supporters. Plus, it wouldn't do to just start killing some of his top officers.

"I noticed you have taken in a new visitor." He made his move.

Haou moved his knight forward to guard his queen, and hissed when it was promptly taken. He only had one left now, so he pressed forward aggressively. There was no way he was taking any more of his important pieces.

"He is none of your business," Haou snarled, focusing on the board.

"Oh really? I'm just rather curious as to why he's still alive. It is not like the King of Gentle Darkness to keep someone like him around." The tone was flat, but he noticed the tiny, tiny taunt to those words.

He struggled to maintain all of his composure.

"As I said, what I am doing with him is NONE of my business."

"My, my, the boy can burn down your throne room and goes unpunished, whereas many of us only speak a word and you have us hung."

Haou knocked his rook off table. "Check."

He could see where the battle was headed, and he smiled. There was no way he was going to lose this fight.

"Are you sure about that? I'm curious about your…reaction to him."

A few more moves were made in silence before it dawned on Haou what exactly he was implying.

"You-" His opponent slammed down a piece next to his remaining knight, tipping it over. Underneath the white piece was a a lock of shredded black hair. Black human hair.

"I believe that's checkmate, Your Majesty."

Haou let out an incomprehensible yell and knocked the table over, cascading black and white pieces over. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?"

The question proved to be fruitless though as a few seconds later he lay dead on the floor, blood slowly forming patterns in the stone.

The guards rushed in, hearing the 'struggle'. "Master Haou, what is wrong?"

He did not answer, but none of them were stupid enough to get in his way as he was leaving.


	10. Silver

Silver is what repelled werewolves, right? Because from the smell, Chazz was fairly certain whatever was that was carrying him was something like that. He didn't discriminate-it was a giant hairy creature and he wanted OFF.

—-

There was no way they were getting away with this! Haou did not care if he had to kill all of his own army, these fools would pay for what they had done.

He had checked the cell he'd left the boy in, and the now dead officer was right. All that was left was scattered objects, a silver chain, and the remains of a smashed snowglobe. Haou vaguely picked up what was left of it. Chazz had always been daydreaming into the stupid thing, so he finally had returned it. Now the whole room was trashed and cover in tiny fragments of glass that crunched underfoot.

He left again and none dared stand in his way. Blinded in rage as he was, he did not stop to even think where his prisoner could be.

—

Chazz didn't know where he was either. He just knew it was dark and wet. Mostly dark. Feeling around, he could tell from the texture of the rock that he was probably in a cave, which would explain the lack of sight, but it didn't explain the snuffling noises. That, probably was explained by the ones that had kidnapped him.

He was sleeping when it happened, but even despite his injuries he managed to smash one of them over the head.

With the snow globe.

He slowly flexed his muscles. His mostly healed burns were stinging again and he was starting to panic about the idea of infection. Not what he needed, miles from civilization.

He turned his head suddenly. Was that a whisper?

No. Couldn't have been, there was noth- "AAHHHH!" He yelled as a spirit literally materialized in front of his ear.

"SHHHHH." It held a tiny hand over his mouth. "They'll hear you!"  
He couldn't answer since the little fairy still kept his grip.

"Where am I?"

—-

Stupid, they were all stupid. They left TRACKS. There was no way Haou could lose them. A three year old could follow the track they had left so blatently behind. He supposed he was lucky to be opposed by such fools but it did nothing to quell his anger.

They would all die.

—-

Fallen down a well again?! He nearly burst out in obscenties if it hadn't been for the myriad of terrified spirits that suddenly surrounded him. What was wrong? What exactly was….down here?

The ground shook and he suddenly did not want an answer to that question.


	11. Prepared

The key to winning any battle is preparedness. Whether or not one knew what to expect could mean a huge difference in life and death to someone. And yet, there were always times when things happened and there was no way to gain foresight.

Haou hated these moments, but his prisoner, even before….then was always a loose cannon. Having him being stolen was the worst possible outcome.

"If you tell me where he is, I might actually let you die quickly." That was a stone-cold lie, he was going to make sure that they suffered for what they had taken from their king, but…incentive.

"I don't-d-don't know what you're talking about!" The creature whimpered at his feet.

"I have tracked him to this location. You mock my_ intelligence_ by pretending he is not here." Several of his evil heroes had gathered, if he had bothered trying to intimidate these fools. However, his mind was on other things. Haou was paying more attention to his surroundings, which had seemed more familiar by the minute.

"I-i-it wasn't me! I w-wasn't the one who brought him here! I j-just saw them, and it-"

"SILENCE." A swift motion from his hand and his monster followed through with the kill command.

He recognized this area. It was a dark place, an area of ruin that even the fiercest of creatures took caution in entering.

That included Haou. Now that he knew where he was, he would've called this feeling fear if it were not for his dark heart.

Here there lived a monster that no one knew quite what it was. It was only glimpsed in brief sightings and only in the lake, therefore, the best conclusion was some sort of sea monsters. And every so often, it would strike out and take monsters as sacrifices, sometimes flooding whole lands if it were not sated.

They had brought Chazz here and probably left him in one of the caves for the beast to feed on him. The one place Haou himself could not even get to. And he knew that Chazz was a spirit duelist. His energy would draw the monster near.

The waters slowly started rippling and a distant roar was heard echoing through the rocks. Anyone with half a brain knew what was coming next: slowly, the center of the lake began to rise.

He had not planned for this. His focus on his search had left him unprepared. Haou, however much it hurt to admit it, was in trouble.

The water exploded and shot everywhere, as a tidal wave formed, threatening to engulf everything.


	12. Knowledge

Second to prepardness, knowledge was one of the most valuable tools in battle and in life. If one had knowledge of a creature, it usually was harder to be afraid of it, and if that did not work, you could at least avoid it.

But Chazz didn't know what gigantic thing was in this cave. He couldn't see at all, and all he could hear was the earth-shattering roar.

"Do any of you morons have a light?" He hissed out to the numerous duel spirits he was sure were there. A couple of grumbles and squeaks later, a small fire flared up and he could just barely see to the edge of the cave.

Chazz glanced around but there was nothing but small drips of water. Not even an entrance or exit. Just a bunch of cards lying around as well as other various monsters. One of them appeared to be some sort of fire-wielder, which was where the light was coming from.

"Can someone TELL me what's going on here?" He demanded.

"Shhhh!" Was the immediate response from everyone. It was so sudden that he actually did clam up and just started crawling around instead. Where exactly was he? The trip over here when he got kidnapped was just a blur, and it seemed to have no visible holes leading away. Water coated everything, making him think he was very close to some sort of underground stream.

"Is there a way out?" He asked, this time quieter. The fire-wielder nervously flicked her eyes around then crawled over.

"There is but…..its past HIM." The last word was spoken with a great emphasis.

"HIM….?"

"Yes, HIM. The gigantic sea creature who lives in the lake. He claims others that are in these caves as sacrifices."

Shit. That wasn't good.

"I want to see this thing. I'm not threatened by stupid fairy-tales."

She gave him a 'really?' glare but nodded slowly. "But only for a little while."

The witch waved at him to follow, but before he did, he scrambled over the cave, collecting all the cards. They were safer with him anyway.

The tunnel was just as cold and wet, and he could feel what was left of his injuries starting to itch-it was a terrible feeling.

She suddenly shrieked and the light snuffed out.

Nearly yelling at her again, he suddenly froze when he found himself staring into a large reptilian eye.

This was the monster. It was a Duel Monster like he had expected.

Levia Dragon, Daedalus.


	13. Denial

He couldn't breathe. The dragon was staring directly at him and it was all he could do to not move a single muscle. Luckily, the witch was doing just the same.

The dragon stared at them for a good moment, then let out a large puff of air from its nostrils. Chazz just noticed now that its head was sticking up from the water. Right, Levia Dragon was a sea creature. What was his special ability?

"Um, hello?" He chanced saying. The dragons head twitched, then turned to look directly at him, as if it had understood.

"You know a way out of here?" True this was probably the worst thing to ask since it most likely was what he was being sacrificed to but come on. Nobody ignored Chazz. He was a spirit duelist anyway.

The dragon contemplated this for a moment, with the witch silently shaking her head wildly. SHE thought it was a bad idea, but…..

All of a sudden one of its limbs shot out and and grabbed him, yanking him down into the water. He barely had time to let out a sound much less breathe, before the dragon dived into the freezing lake.

All he could see was the trail of bubbles and the giant swishing tail and his lungs were near bursting. He desperately tried to struggle, but the arm stayed around him, locked tight.

Only when his vision threatened to go totally black did he finally break the surface of the lake.

"You goddamn stupid dragon!" He started yelling before facing wherever the dragon had brought him to, or rather, to whom.

It was still far off but from his height, he could easily tell who it was.

Haou. Haou had come to rescue him.

Chazz wanted to deny it, deny any feelings, deny the fact that he was glad to see him for once, but it did not seem possible.

The waves rose higher-wait, THAT was Levia Dragons ability!

"NO!" he shouted briefly before the dragon roared and the water exploded.


	14. Wind

He was in the center of the tidal wave, so he was not affected.

However, once he ordered the stupid dragon to drop him, he saw that Haou was. Chazz glanced briefly back at the creature.

"Was all of that really necessary?!" He had no energy to even be as angry as he wanted to be. The dragon merely stared back at him, and Chazz wondered if it could even speak.

**Spirit caller, it is best that you leave.**

The dragon huffed and the slid seamlessly into the lake again. Silence dropped, all was still. He sunk down in the sand, listless. Why was it all happening? Why was he bothering anymore? Going to the Dark World was just meant to get one friend back and along the way he had lost all of them. Was it really..a good thing to spend his whole being into just getting one of them back?

Haou was not worth it, but Jaden was.

Unless they weren't as different.

He'd seen how Haou had many of the same mannerisms and he'd done a fair amount of reading into split personalities. They sometimes formed when the person experiences a traumatic event they tried to hide from, and this had happened most horribly.

Chazz slowly dragged himself upward and trod over to where he thought Haou would be. The distinctive armor was covered in water and sand, and the cape was all torn up but he was certainly there.

He slowly bent over and slid his hands underneath the body, tipping it so it fell on its back. Haou immediately started coughing, trying to clear his airway of all the crap that had gotten stuck there.

"Hey, stop that, its fine, I'm here." He mumbled. The king fell back, his yellow eyes half open. Chazz briefly waved a hand. He didn't respond.

"Hello? You in there slacker?" He lightly hit him over the head.

A small breeze had started to pick up, stirring the air. It felt good, the water coming off the lake even if he was chilled afterwards. This seemed to wake up the king a little more at least.

"Haou…?" He said, slapping him again to get him moving.

The hand grabbed his wrist and he let out a sharp gasp as he was pulled forward. As he sat up the other hand held the back of his neck but instead of squeezing he merely was brought forward into the kings chest.

Was this a…hug? The grip never slackened in the least but Haou rested his head on Chazz's.

"You said my name." He whispered.

There was no reply, even if he could think of the words to say to that. Hope had not abandoned either of them.


	15. Order

There was now a certain order of things to go through. Now that he had this…one back, he no longer need to be around the lake. Haou briefly thought of getting revenge on the sea dragon but it quietly faded from his mind. There were some things as a king he was not able to do.

Besides, he had one more to look after. The wind had kicked in full, leaving them both shivering. Not wasting time to play any games, he dragged his charge upwards and half carried him to a cave far away from the lake. He kept protesting, saying he could walk, dammit, but Haou decided to take no chances. He would not lose again.

He set him down and got an evil hero to start a fire, immediately lighting up the cave and sending heat through chilled bones.

"You called me by name," He eventually said again. That was the first time this one had called him that when he was not forced to.

"Don't get me wrong, you're still the same as Jaden, just you seem to be sticking around so I'm gonna have to deal with you first." He was staring into the fire.

Haou's gaze lingered on him for awhile, paying special attention to the newly created scars.

"I am not going anywhere."

"Try me."

"I could kill you."

This time their eyes met. "So could I."

A slight chill went through him. It was not from the threat, it was from the look in his eyes. Grey. No life. Nothing. He was all but gone.

A hand tightened. What exactly had happened?

Haou took a breath. "I highly doubt that."

They both went back to the fire.

"I'm sorry. My time's running out." He nearly spat out and promptly laid down and turned away.

Neither had anything more to say.


	16. Thanks

It took them several more days to even get in distance of the castle and both of them were exhausted. Haou had lost any mode of transport he had to the dragon and as angry as he was, getting this one back safe was the main priority.

He brushed aside the worried guards and just dragged the both of them to his room. He could tell them went on later.

He dropped the other one in his room, not even bothering with the chain at all. He was certain after all of the he would not be even trying to leave his room.

—

A couple days had passed and the dead look was still in the boy's eyes. Haou was at a loss as to what to do. He didn't talk, that wasn't something he as king did, but each morning when the boy woke up, he had left something small by his bed for him to find.

A couple days later, he started asking for paper. Haou was puzzled, but acquiesced, wondering what he was using it for. Every time he checked the room but found no evidence of any of it.

There was no possible way he could be using it to escape, right? It was just paper.

What could possibly be going on?

—-

He had requested one more sheet of paper, and this time he was going to figure it out. Haou slowly knocked on the door and opened it. He was right there, ready to grab it out of his hands, but instead he locked around his thin wrist.

"What is going on?"

The boy would not look directly at him, even though they were the same height.

"Just give me the damn paper!" He growled.

"I want to know what you are doing with it first."

"Folding paper airplanes and throwing them out of the window."

Was that sarcasm? Haou stared at him incredulously as he rolled his eyes.

"It doesn't matter, I'm not escaping your precious castle, okay?!" He finally looked at Haou, and the same dead look was there. Though this time, there was a tiny spark. He slowly let go of the wrist and Chazz snatched the paper out of Haou's hands.

"Thanks," he mumbled as the king backed out and left the room.


	17. Look

He was almost done. Chazz finished off the final stroke on the last peice of paper. Whether this was going to work or not was another story, since the papers were a last resort for him.

He had three plans. He had learned from his brothers from an early age to always plan for contingencies and things that would not work, therefore he could still be left the victor, but this time around there was almost too much at stake.

The first plan was pretty simple. The second was to get away. The third were these papers.

He carefully folded this last one and placed it under the new snowglobe. Chazz had woken up to find a new one resting there and he was fairly sure it was Haou's doing. He glanced once more over the entire room and went to go for the doorknob.

Sparks started to fly and the metal sizzled under his grasp. He drew his grip away quickly, wringing his hand. There was one thing he did not need more of and those were burns. Some of his other ones from the big fire had gotten infected from his stint in the watery cave but those wouldn't matter anytime soon.

As for the sparks, that had been happening more recently. If he had remembered from his lectures and Misawa's annoying rambling, there were certain spirit duelists, and they had much greater reserves of duel energy then the average duelist. And now thanks to Haou, he no longer had that stupid bracelet.

Chazz clenched his fist, smoke rising from his hand. His power was growing, especially being in the dark world so long, but it seemed to be more and more unstable. He wasn't sure what it could do either, which was a huge problem but he had to bet everything on it.

Suddenly, the door opened for him. Haou stood, glaring at him. "What on earth do you think you are doing? How did you disable my lock?"

Chazz stared right back at him, trying to communicate all his hatred, all his pain in that one single look. "That's not the point here. You saved me the time of trying to come find you."

"Oh really? And what for, may I ask?"

Chazz took a deep breath. Plan one, here it came. "I challenge you to a duel."


	18. Summer

From the look on the kings face he could not believe what was happening.

"You? Challenging me to a duel? Are you MAD?" But Chazz still stood his ground.

"I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL WHAT DO YOU NOT GET ABOUT THAT?!"

"YOU HAVE NO CARDS!"

He reached inside his shirt and pulled out the meagre pile he managed to collect. "You really do underestimate me, Haou."

For a minute it looked as though the king was going to explode from the inside, but he somehow managed to catch himself.

Haou stared at the cards in Chazz's hands, probably wondering how he'd gotten them.

"You are right, I have been too lenient. This is your last act of rebellion." The hands reached for him again, but he was having none of it. Chazz hit him away.

"You're right its the last act. Because after this, you're not coming back, _Haou_," He hissed with malice. "Now where is my duel disk?!"

Haou did not move. He did not say anything and his eyes never left Chazz's face. He decided to bate him further.

"You know what? I hate this place. It's dark, its stupid and it smells. A dragon tried to EAT ME, i have burns and scars all over, and I'm fed up with this place. Hell I'd even like summer at my brothers place over this!" He was beyond any reason, just shouting words. "So what? You gonna be a coward just like that slack-

"_I COULD KILL YOU!_"

The shout cut off his rant and he unconciously took a couple steps backwards.

"The only reason I have not is to prove to you any hopes of your friend coming back are gone. I am Haou, not Jaden. You are wasting your life, and your hopes on a pack of worthless cards!"

He suddenly gripped one of the magic cards. It sparked and started to glow. The winds picked up and suddenly blew everything backwards into the wall. Glass shattered, curtains flapped, books flew like projectiles.

Once the noise had died down and everything had settled, Chazz walked to the doorway, looking down at where the king had landed. "I'm tired of your shit."

Resisting the urge to step on him, he walked past him and left.


	19. Transformation

No one got in his way after he left. No one. They had seen-or heard-what had happened, since news travelled fast, and all of Haou's minions got out of the way of the vengeful boy.

A bit more of searching around the castle, Chazz finally found his duel disk and jacket. He hadn't been expecting to find either, since Haou had a tendancy to destroy everything, so it was a bit suprising.

Either way, he still pulled on the coat and walked to the entrance.

What exactly was it that made him feel like this? As time went on, he had felt more and more powerless but now, it was like he didn't care.

It was like he had all the power in the world.

He had listened to Bastion prattling on next to him about theories of Spirit Duelists and how they contained much more Duel Energy then the average person. The Dark World was run on Duel Energy, and perhaps thats why he had taken to this so well.

The Levia Dragon had triggered it. He did not belong in this world and neither did Jaden anymore. Chazz kept walking, kicking up clouds of dust until he was far enough away from the castle.

He waited.

Eventually Haou came out, seething with rage. After all, his pet prisoner had just made a fool of him in front of everyone.

"YOU. WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?!" He shouted.

"Do you really think I'd get away, slacker?" Chazz called back, intentionally baiting him.

"NO. You will not."

"Why, you scared of me, Jaden?"

"THAT IS NOT MY NAME AND YOU KNOW IT!"

He grinned. It was working. "Maybe not, but it certainly got you angry enough to duel me. If you win your reputation will be restored. If not….I'll escape and then no one will be afraid of you any longer.

Haou did not answer for a moment.

"Fine, have your way. This time I won't be as friendly."

A flash of pain went over Chazz's face before it promptly disappeared, and transformed into something more malicious.

"I'm planning on it."


	20. Tremble

A tremor reached through the ground again and the earth shook underneath them.

The duel had only been going on for a few minutes and already Haou was at a distadvantage. This boy wasn't holding anything back, none of his broken power, none of his cards. He truly saw now that he was putting everything into this duel.

Haou-no, this was Jaden's memory. Jaden had only seen him do that one other time, and it was when he attended the school rivalry duel. Even then it had been different; he did not have this level of commitment.

A nauseating feeling was spreading through his stomach.

"I activate the special ability of my XZ Dragon Cannon! It returns one card of my selection to the oppenents hand. And I choose your evil hero!" He called out clearly.

The feeling shot through his stomach again. What was this? Everything was falling apart, and not just the trembling earth.

The monster disappeared from the field, and Haou stared straight at the machine aiming for his life points.

"I attack you directly." His rival grinned, and blew the world away.


	21. Sunset

The duel wore on. Haou was clinging to his life points, as his rival had already wore them down to next to nothing.

"How the hell did you survive that?!" He demanded from across the battlefield.

"Emergency rations. You should know better then that, slime." His voice was flat. He couldn't seem to bring himself to do anything more. Why wasn't he angry? Why wasn't he angry at the stupid boy who dared so to challenge him.

No.

Jaden. This was Jaden's fault. He was coming back. That feeling in the pit of his stomach was returning, and returning horribly. HIs hands were shaking, and so were his thoughts.

Luckily, his opponent couldn't see him from there, as Haou looked to the sky, collecting his thoughts. What was this terrible sense of foreboding? This duel could not end well for either of them.

The sunset had started and the shadows grew longer and longer.

It was funny. This world didn't even have a sun.

"Are you gonna end you turn or what?!" Came the yell. "Don't tell me you're scared!"

"Shut UP! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS FOOLISHNESS. ALL OF YOU! EVERYTHING!" He collected himself suddenly. "I end my turn."


	22. Mad

Both of them were driven to the edge.

Chazz had not expected to put up this much of a fight, nor had he expected the king to do the same. True, he had more life points but as of now all Haou had on the field was his Wild Cyclone. and Chazz had nothing.

His monsters had been destroyed in the last attack, but there wasn't much he could do with cards like these. Yes, he'd built a deck-out of scrap cards he'd found around, and it was heavily outbalanced. The only card of his he was able to find was a lone Armed Dragon.

"I end my turn." Haou said. He had 2000 life points left, since Emergency Rations was activated. Chazz had 2200.

However, his monsters effect had never been activated. His facedown card was still there.

"My turn!" He shouted and drew. It was all to be decided now. Just one move, and he was done. He would be free, and his rival as well.

"I summon the Witch of the Black Forest in attack mode!"

"What, are you going to take me one with that pathetic thing?" Haou mocked. "It doesn't have enough attack points to get through my defense!"

"I'm not gonna let you have your defense!" He was getting mad. This constant backtalk was something he did, not Jaden. The further this duel went on, the further Jaden was slipping.

"I ACTIVATE RING OF DESTRUCTION!" He raised his hand. "And I attached it to your Evil Hero!"

The ring spun out and clung to the monsters neck, causing it to go into a panic.

"All 1900 points of damage will be dealt to both of us and my monster will destroy you. Prepare to say goodbye, Supreme King!"

"NO!" The cry tore across the dueling field, and Chazz's heart nearly lept out of his chest.

"Don't do this, you loser! Don't do this!" Haou was panicked, losing its edge.

"Quit begging, its unfit for you!"

"I'm not begging, I don't want this to happen, Chazz!" His arm fell. Haou had just called his real name.

"Jaden?"

Sure enough it was his brown eyes, still rimmed with gold and anger, but his eyes were back. "Don't be such an idiot. Don't do this too."

Chazz was speechless, but he couldn't call off the attack now. The ring of destruction exploded and both of them shielded their faces from the smoke and debris.

He looked back over to Haou's-Jaden's field to see that he had activated his facedown.

"Change of Hero….Reflector Ray…."

_No, it can't be. I lost again….._.

He glanced at the cards in his hands then lowered his arms to stand still. It worked out like this, then. Certainly, a dramatic turn of events.

The cards effect hit him like a shockwave, but still he stood, as his life points dropped to zero.


	23. Thousand

Was this really happening?

The duel had been won, fate was decided. He couldn't tell if everything really was going to work out the way it should've, but he tried. He'd tried his damn hardest. The life counter on the duel disk ran out and it slowly slid off his arm and fell, scattering the cards everywhere.

He had lost, finally and truly.

A frantic sound of footsteps was drawing closer, running towards him with impossible speed. The life was draining right out of him, and he fell to his knees. He started to tilt backwards and would've, had a couple of armored hands not reached out to hold him up.

"Chazz…..why?" He looked up at his rivals eyes. They were still golden but it was Jaden's voice this time. Were they one finally? Had he realized.

"Slacker….." He smiled. "That was the first time you finally said my name Haou."

"Idiot...that was only the first time...i meant it..." He was struggling to keep the anger in his voice, but Jaden seemed to finally have woken up, and lending to the influence.

"I suppose….you get it now?" It was starting to be an effort to speak, he already couldn't feel his toes. "You…Haou….are the same."

"I don't get it. Tell me, I don't get it!" He shook Chazz lightly. "Tell me, I don't get it!"

"I thought you were different at first…and you were….but you're still the same. You're just the part we all like to hide, slacker…." Could he go now? His job was almost done.

"I don't care. I don't care! You're stupid! You lost! You lost the duel, you can't say anything!"

Chazz finally closed his eyes. He didn't want that to be the last thing he saw. "You're wrong. Don't you….get it? I finally won Jaden. I finally won."

"My brothers….would be proud….."

* * *

"NO! Don't leave! Come back!" Haou screamed at him, but as much as he shook him, his eyes never opened again. Light was growing and he knew what came next.

"NO! COME BACK! I'M THE KING! YOU HAVE TO DO WHAT I SAY!" Nothing. Just cold silence.

Haou couldn't stop crying. These weren't his feelings. Darkness couldn't cry. Darkness….he was Jaden's dark. It didn't matter. He felt what his other self would feel because….

"You won, okay? I'll admit it. You fucking won, now stop showing off." Haou gripped his jacket as he started fading away.

First one light, then another. They started growing and growing, now matter how much the king pleaded them to go away.

In the end he was left there holding a lifeless jacket as his rival turned into a thousand stars and floated away forever.


	24. Outside

He couldn't tell how long he kneeled there outside.

The castle was still in the distance, its shadow looming over their battlefield. All that was left was a duel disk and scattered cards, laid out almost neatly on a black jacket.

The tears hadn't stopped for awhile because Haou didn't know how to make them go away. He'd never been sad before. He'd never lost someone he cared about because he had never cared before.

Just this time the jacket did it. He couldn't stop looking at the jacket.

"You….why would you do this. Chazz, that's…cheating." He sullenly crawled his way over to the cards. Suprisingly, his deck had stayed all inside the duel disk as it fell, but his hand was scattered all over the ground. Slowly, one by one, Haou picked them up, the last cards he had ever held.

He couldn't stand the sight of them. These stupid weak things had taken his servent, no, his Knight away from him. These stupid weak things! If he had given him cards, all the cards in the world, his power, his knight would not have died. These cards were at fault. They made him lose!

Slowly, he ripped each card in half until he got to the last one.

Wait, this was….Mystical Space Typhoon. With that he could've destroyed Haou's reflector ray…..

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" Haou screamed and kicked the duel disk away. A flurry of dirt cascaded over the cards and his jacket and quickly settled down in the stagnant air. "YOU. YOU SET THIS UP! YOU MEANT TO DIE! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!"

He was screaming at the sky, and the ground at anything that could and would listen, but nothing of course answered. The object of his rages was lost among the stars.


	25. Winter

_Hello slacker. I suppose if you are reading this, it will sound like a cliche' "i must be dead right now" piece. Well you're in luck because its true. But let me tell you I'm not gonna go down without a fight. I wrote these letters, good luck finding them all._

_I always hated the winter. _

_When i'm stuck here I wished nothing more then to feel cold again. Here I just feel numb. You probably are like that too, Haou, aren't you? You didn't want to feel anything, so you just locked yourself up into a dark self. How convienient for you slacker. You have another self you can blame all this shit on._

_I will forever hold it to you that this is your fault._

_But you have to accept that as well. Everyone has actions they need to come to terms with it, and you don't get any special treatment from the world. What you did was what you did. If you had listened to me, you probably wouldn't have gotten into this mess._

_But what do I know, I'm just the dumb rival._

* * *

The whole castle had practically been abandoned already. Everyone saw Haou get beaten down by the knight in black and they didn't want a weak king anymore.

He could not blame them one bit.

He stood in the trashed bedroom, the chess pieces scattered all over the floor. Suddenly, he desperately dropped to his knees and tried to search for one in particular. The white Knight.

His gloved fingers closed around it and he brought it back up. The piece was scorched on one side so now it was half white and half black but he held it anyways. Perhaps it was even more fitting for him now.


	26. Diamonds

_Hello again, slacker. It looks like you're smarter then I thought._

_Besides, you're probably here wondering what the hell the point of all of this is. Why am I writing these dramatic letters, feeding them to you one peice at a time? I want you to think. I want you to think about all that you have done, in the Dark World and in our world and beyond that._

_I want you to know EXACTLY what you've done. So you can finally realize. _

_I've said it's all your fault multiple times. You yourself need to admit that if Haou is ever to become Jaden again. It's something i realized from my imprisonment. Haou is Jaden, and Jaden is Haou. But….I'm hoping in this duel that you can figure that out and become one person again. _

_If not, congratulations you have a dead rival._

_But never mind. I'm just repeating myself. Keep looking, you slacker._

* * *

Haou had found this one under the snowglobe. Trashing the room had an unintentional side effect, discovering more about his prisoner then hiding the evidence. There were cards under the bed. there were books that had creased corners. And most of all, there were these notes.

How he had gotten them in order, he did not know, but he trusted in Chazz's knowledge to have figured out a way.

"Did you really…..feel this way?" Haou ran his fingers, now out of thier gloves, over the stroke marks. Each one of them seemed to radiate with an anger still embedded in the page. He had such….strong feelings, but there was not a clue….

The letter dropped, settling on the glass diamonds scattered all over the floor. He had tried to shatter the snowglobe, only to remember he'd enchanted it to make it unbreakable.


	27. Letters

_Good news slacker-there's only one more letter after this one. You're almost done using your brain._

_Don't hurt yourself now, I know you hate thinking._

_Let me tell you why I always called you slacker. My brothers called me that all the time because I was. I tried and I tried, but in the end I couldn't succeed in what they wanted. I didn't try hard ENOUGH. _

_But then you come along and you dueled Crowler and won, and you wond over everyone else as well. I was sitting next to them and all they could talk about was 'Jaden Yuki'._

_But you never tried. I watched you closely because you were a damn good rival and I'm GOING to beat you some day. You never tried your hardest at anything, and you slept through all your classes. You were so fucking lazy and yet you couldn't lose and I can't stand it. I tried at everything. I worked to get where I was and you made it all disappear._

_You're a false hero._

_And sometimes I wonder why I care but you already know the answer. Or at least you should._

* * *

This one Haou read as he was walking back down to the first floor. The room was too much and now he was numb inside. It was a different sort of numb, that feeling like after someone had cried so much they couldn't do anything else.

The words didn't even hurt though he knew they should. Maybe because he'd heard it all, but….maybe he'd already known. Haou needed someone to slap him in the face, and Chazz probably had the big head to figure he was the only one who could.

Funny thing was though, he was the only one.

Haou-no, Jaden couldn't figure out Chazz from day one, so he'd stopped trying. His rival was confusing and two-faced and it hurt his head.

"That's what I want to know. Why did you care?" He shook the paper as if it would hear him.

"Why did you…why…..was that really the only way…."

There were other ways to say sadness then just crying.


	28. Promise

_Okay, you got me. This is the last one. I won't be sarcastic anymore._

_From here on out, it's all up to you. I can't help you anymore. Sure, Aster and Jim and Axel are out there somewhere, but who knows. Maybe you can find them maybe not._

_I am finding this hard to write but, Jaden, only you can conquer the darkness in your heart. Haou IS you. He may be whatever that was about past incarnations but he's still you. Even if you hate him, you ARE him. _

_You can hate yourself all you want, but it will never go away and you will never get stronger unless you acknowledge all that you've caused. All the people you've killed. All the ones you saved._

_It obviously wasn't me, but who cares about that now. You've helped me enough._

_If I didn't think you could do it, I wouldn't have written these letters. _

_Just promise me. Promise me for once in your goddamn life you'll listen. You're my rival. Start acting like one. Make…..make it work. _

_I wish I could've beaten you at least once, but I can't have everything. _

_But if you return, then that means I won against Haou, doesn't it? And don't you have a certain Jesse Anderson to go find?_

_So thanks._

_Jaden._

* * *

As if he thought the last one was worst. Of COURSE Chazz was only nice to him after he died, it was just fucking typical.

"You…..you…." _You're right. _He was right. What hell Chazz had lived through to tell him exactly what he needed Jaden did not know, but it must've been bad.

"Yeah, I know, I should've helped, but you could've been nicer. Now look at you. Talking to me through paper." He put the paper down and looked up at the sky. He stood there for a minute, not saying anything. The last words had struck him the most. Chazz could've won that duel, the last one they had, but he didn't to beat Haou.

He still had some tears left, but they didn't incapacitate him this time.

"I promise Chazz. I promise on your honor as a duelist, I won't let you lose. I'll find him, and I'll set all this right." It was silly talking to clouds, but a promise was a promise.

"You're welcome."


	29. Simple

He'd probably spent at least a couple days out there, and he certainly wasn't counting. Haou had shed his armor and become Jaden Yuki again, though they were forever a part of each other.

Jaden remembered the terrible things Haou-no, he-had done and decided to do something. It wasn't much, and certainly didn't make up for any of it, but there was nothing else that could be done.

Jaden started digging graves. First it was only with his hands, but that grew tired quickly and so he searched the castle and found a shovel. Even with the tool, it was still hard work-the purple earth was hard and crunchy and didn't like being moved.

He still worked. He worked until his hands were bleeding, until there were holes all over the place.

There were no actual bodies.

Everyone in the dark world dissolved into stars when they died, so he didn't know the point of all of this but it made him feel like he was doing something. Slowly, he started covering up each hole, intended for all the people who had died during his reign. First were the guards, then the prisoners, and finally, the villagers who had died in his massacres. The mounds were filled and covered with a simple grave marker. A small stick was the only thing there to symbolize that there were people who had lived in this world.

Was it really fair that they didn't leave anything behind, or was it better that way?

There was a crunch on the ground and Jaden turned around. Chazz was right-his friends had found them.


	30. Future

Jim, Aster, Axel Brodie, and Syrus had found Jaden digging empty graves and filling them up, but not once did they question his motives. Syrus had told them what had happened during the fateful duel-and Jaden's eyes seemed back to normal at the very least.

They watched silently, Jim shaking his head at Aster until all but the last grave was filled.

"Big bro….are you okay?" Syrus asked hesitantly. Jaden turned, and tried to smile, though it didn't work.

"Yeah I'm just finishing up burying these people. A few seconds and then we can go look for Jesse." He went back to burying empty graves.

Syrus let the silence go on a little longer before he couldn't stand it. "But Jaden, what are you even doing? And how did you get back to normal?"

"There was one of Haou's…warriors. He beat some sense into me." Jaden didn't turn back around. "Don't worry, Haou is gone."

"It doesn't sound like it."

"Well that's because he's me!" Jaden shouted, causing Syrus to step back. He immediately looked apologetic. "I'm sorry. Just let me do this."

There was only one grave left. IT was smaller then the others, intended for only one person, and more care had been taken to it.

"Who's that one for?" Aster finally deigned to speak.

"That warrior. He died trying to help me and he deserves some sort of resting place." Jaden said.

"No one leaves bodies around here, Jaden."

His hands tightened on the shovel. "I know that."

Slowly, the grave filled in, until all that was left was a mound and a tall branch sticking out on the top. Syrus was curious as to what was so special about this grave but his stomach turned cold when Jaden brought out the object he put over it.

Jaden looked back at their faces, all filled with different levels of shock. "Like I said, he gave me future. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him."

He picked up his bag. "Come on, lets go set things straight."

"Are you sure we are done here?" Jim asked.

"Yeah." Jaden smiled sadly at the grave. "I am."

The group started walking off into the distant land, leaving all that had happened behind. The only things that were left behind were the empty graves and a black trenchcoat flapping in the wind.

_The end._


End file.
